BuffettNews.com

It seems Jimmy missed something by tearing apart the Hemisphere Dancer and sticking it in the Lone Palm patio - Billabong now has a 1950s Grumman Albatross HU-16B to cruise the oceans for great surfing.

I bet Jimmy is quietly cursing somewhere inside. Surfing with a seaplane! Of course, he might have already done it. But think of the money he could have made! Think of the bragging that could be done!

Air Margaritaville Tequilla!

There is video footage of Jimmy water skiing off the back of the Hemisphere Dancer.............

IsleReef wrote:There is video footage of Jimmy water skiing off the back of the Hemisphere Dancer.............

On the internet? Please share!

Ilph wrote:

IsleReef wrote:There is video footage of Jimmy water skiing off the back of the Hemisphere Dancer.............

On the internet? Please share!

The only place I've seen it was in the video they play during concerts.

Gypsy In The Palace wrote:

Ilph wrote:

IsleReef wrote:There is video footage of Jimmy water skiing off the back of the Hemisphere Dancer.............

On the internet? Please share!

The only place I've seen it was in the video they play during concerts.

Yup.......... Thats what I was referring to......... I wish I had it......

There is a short video clip at regalcinemas.com It's an advertisement for the big screen concert he did. it has a real quick waterskiing shot as well as some flying. Don't blink....

He also kept surfboards on board the HD. I remember a video tour of the boat/plane where he showed the boards hanging in there. I think he also mentions them in APLA50, though it's been a couple of years since I read it. IIRC they were longboards.

NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- (December 13, 2004) -- The Billabong Clipper, a classic military seaplane refitted as the ultimate surf exploration craft, made its first public appearance today with a spectacular ocean landing off of Newport Harbor. The vintage Grumman HU-16B "Albatross" skimmed across the seas off Corona del Mar this afternoon, touching down on the Pacific waters in a sight not seen off the California coast in decades.

With an Orange County Sheriff's Department Harbor Patrol escort, the flying boat was towed into the harbormouth by two SeaTow support vessels and moored off picturesque China Cove, just inside Corona del Mar State Beach. The vintage amphibious warbird, in its new tan and brown paint scheme, evoked the glamour and adventure of the Pam Am Clipper flying boats which opened up transpacific routes some 70 years ago.

Professional surfers Shane Dorian, Donovan Frankenreiter and Benji Weatherly were on board for the maiden voyage of the Clipper, and were thrilled at the sensation of alighting on the ocean at over 80 knots and sliding to a halt just across the jetty from the famed Wedge surf spot.

"That was an amazing experience," said Dorian, world-renowned for his years on the world pro surfing tour and his big wave skills. "It was so much fun. This plane will open up the door to a whole new realm of surf exploration to places no one has ever been."
Officials at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum believe this is the largest seaplane to ever visit Newport Harbor, and the first in many decades. Newport was the site of the first ever seaplane flight conducted by aviation pioneer Glenn Martin in 1912.

The location area holds other historic significance as the breakers off Corona del Mar were the epicenter of American surfing in the 1920s and early 30s, and the spot where surf legends like Duke Kahanamoku and Tom Blake honed their skills long before San Onofre and Malibu came into favor. The adjacent China Cove beach was often used as a place to build and modify the enormous wooden surfboards of the era. The Billabong Clipper is moored off the Kerckhoff Marine Institute, a CalTech research facility which dates back to its founding as a beach club in the Roaring Twenties.

The aircraft will remain in Newport Harbor through tomorrow, when it will be christened in a brief ceremony before departing on a series of worldwide surfing exploration adventures.



to read more about it....

http://www.globalsurfnews.com/news.asp?Id_news=15184

http://www.billabongclipper.com/

Thanks AF!

AlbatrossFlyer wrote:

That's the HD, right?

I used to hang out there in my "younger" beach days! I wish I had been there.

mrmiata wrote:

AlbatrossFlyer wrote:

That's the HD, right?

yup....

AlbatrossFlyer wrote:

mrmiata wrote:

AlbatrossFlyer wrote:

That's the HD, right?

yup....

I just love that bird.......

here is a nice article I found on Margaritaville on the HM
http://margaritaville.com/adventures/dancer3.htm

Here are some more great articles you should give a big read...

http://margaritaville.com/adventures/dancer.htm

http://margaritaville.com/adventures/dancer2.htm

http://margaritaville.com/adventures/dancer3.htm

http://margaritaville.com/adventures/dancer4.htm

you can see jimmy popping his head towards the right of plane